Against the wind
by ShikamaruKun
Summary: Temari’s behavior change has started to worry Kankuro. After he finds out the reason, he travels to Konoha to look for some answers. His visit will put Shikamaru in front of the decision of a lifetime. ShikaTema.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own naruto. **

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"Against the wind "

_Chapter 1 :__ The travel.  
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Kankuro hesitated to enter the gates of Konoha's village, but he also knew that there was no turning back. He needed to find out what was wrong with his sister, because he could no longer stand to see her like that. It'd had been a long trip but it was worth it, he knew the only way to return her sister's peace of mind was inside these gates.

He entered the city and headed straight to his destination. He remembered the way since he saw the place the last time he was in the village. It'd been over 3 years since then, but everything was still pretty much the same.

A few minutes after he passed the gates he found himself standing in front of the place he came to see. He hesitated a moment but knocked the door firmly, three times. A black haired woman that seemed to be in her 30's answered the door.

"Yes?" The woman asked

"Good afternoon. Is Shikamaku home?" Kankuro replied politely

"There no one here by that name. There's a _Shikamaru_, however if that what you meant" replied the woman with an annoyed face.

"Umm, yes sorry!" Kankuro felt the attitude he just received somehow familiar

"He is home. I'll go call him"

The woman headed inside the house towards the stairs and yelled his son's name.

"Shikamaru! There's someone here to see you!"

"To see me?... how troublesome" he whispered while coming down the stairs.

Moments later Shikamaru arrived at the door with a lazy face.

"Umm? Temari's brother? What are you doing here?"

"I need to speak with you"

"Is something wrong?"

"Join me for a walk"

"Heh, ok"

The lazy shinobi joined Kankuro and started walking.

-

"So what's wrong?" Shikamaru went straight to the point

"My sister" Kankuro replied

"What Happened?"

"She changed… right after the Akatsuki battle"

"How?"

"She seems to be… depressed I guess you could say… I've never seen her like this, not even when our father died" Kankuro's expression changed to a more serious one.

"Since things returned to normal… she's been acting pretty strange. She locks herself in her room, she gets distracted quite often in missions, and overall she seems to have lost focus"

"Wow. That really sounds unlike her"

"It is unlike her"

"So have you talked to her? What is the problem?"

"I've tried, but she won't tell me. And that is when she'll even answer. But then…" Kankuro's turned to Shikamaru with questioning eyes.

"One time… I was passing by her room and I heard her sobbing. That didn't surprised me, because she was sobbing almost all the time she was on her room. But between the sobbing I heard something else… a word"

"What word?"

"Your name"

"My name?"

"Yes. I didn't remember it was your name at first. It took me a few days to remember it was you. It's been a week since then and I just had to come here to talk to you" Kankuro turned his head around to face Shikamaru.

"Do you know what's wrong with her? Did you do something to her" Kankuro's tone sounded almost threatening

"No I have no idea"

"Then why would she say you name?"

"Who knows…"

"Idiot this is serious!" Kankuro yelled grabbing violently Shikamaru by the shirt.

"I know it is" Shikamaru replied taking Kankuro's hand away from him.

"But, have you though of asking her about that to her? Now that you know it has to do with me she won't be able to avoid answering"

"But… don't you care? Whatever has her acting like this has something to do with you…"

"Are you sure you heard correctly? Words between sobbing could be coming out hard to understand"

"I'm sure, 100"

"I'm sorry I can't help you then"

"What could be…" Kankuro expression reflected complete confusion again.

"I'm sorry" A happy looking blonde appear from around the corner "but I couldn't help to overhear"

"I think I know what may be wrong with her" Ino said keeping her smile

"How can you know? You barely know her" Shikamaru replied

"Geez Shikamaru, you still have a lot to learn about woman behavior. I guess your genius doesn't apply to that"

"Umm?"

"_She likes you_"

"She likes me?...no way… she never said anything about that"

"Of course not, do you think she's the kind of girl that would write you a letter and tell you she loves you?" Ino replied scolding him

"But think about it, did she ever do anything that could hint it?"

"Like what?"

"Like mmm, for example, teasing you, or hanging around with you when she doesn't have to, treating you badly"

Shikamaru quickly looked back 3 years ago, when they fought Tayuya, and when they were at the hospital together.

"I'm supposed to get the idea that she likes me from those actions? It doesn't make sense"

"Most of the time women don't make sense Shikamaru. Remember that" Ino's smile grew wider

"So she's depressed because she likes this guy?" Kankuro asked with disbelief

"She's depressed because she doesn't think that her feelings are mutual, or that she knows it's not possible. Because of where you two live it couldn't be"

"So what can we do?" Kankuro asked

"Shikamaru, the first thing that you must think of, is if _you_ like her. Depending on that, you can start thinking of a solution"

-

Shikamaru stared at the sky, laying in the grass as he usually did. But this time it was different. Whenever he was there he would most of the time let his mind free and not think too much if he though at all. But this time too many ideas wondered around his head. Whereas most of the times he'd go trough the problems he faces calmly and on order, this time he was a mess. How to deal with something like this? In the course of his 15 almost 16 years the only word the he could think of when he tough of women was "troublesome". He never really saw any of the girls in the village "that" way, it never really worried him though, since none of his friends seemed to do it either. "Maybe we're too young" he used to think.

"Bossy, rude and… beautiful…" words that described Temari. And Shikamaru had a problem with each one of them. Of course after living 16 years with a bossy woman the last thing he'd want is getting involved with another one. A person that shows feelings to someone by being rude? Seems troublesome. And a beautiful woman?... Shikamaru never aimed high on that department, the little he'd though about it. The way he wanted his life to be was simple, marry a normal not to pretty but not to ugly girl, have a kid or 2 and sit around on his house for long periods of time after he retired.

Pretty woman are usually more troublesome since they usually think too highly of themselves. That's why Shikamaru never wanted to become involved with one. But one, one of the most beautiful women he'd ever meet was miles away crying for him. And it was time now for Shikamaru to take the decision, either take the risk, or simply ignore the situation. Putting his fingertips together forming a circle he started calculating all he possible outcomes and processing the pros and cons. But to his surprise, this time he could not take a decision that way. He knew the facts, and the risks, but at the end it was a decision he had to make using a different part of his body.

-

Kankuro though of Temari while preparing to leave the village. He'd been waiting for hours for Shikamaru to arrive but he never did. "He obviously don't care about it"

"How can my sister fall for someone like that… and that much. It doesn't make sense that her, such an independent and strong woman would lose her grip all for a lazy guy like this"

"I guess I'll confront her when I get back. There must be some way to deal with this"

Just as he started walking towards the gates a voice stopped him.

"I'm going with you" Shikamaru said with a firm decided voice.

"And just what are you planning to do when you get there?"

"I've made my decision. But it's not of your business"

"Idiot, this is my sister you're talking about"

"It doesn't matter; it's between her and me"

Kankuro looked at him with a reserved look on his face.

"Fine"

They both started walking together towards the gates.

"But don't worry. When I return here she'll be back to her old self. You can be sure"

With a face of disbelief Kankuro looked at him while reaching the gates.

"Ok"

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**Well, that's it, I hope you liked it. I'll probably update within two weeks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's notes: well it's been a while since the last update. Too much homework  but I finally got some time and finished writing the second chapter to this story.**

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_Chapter 2 : The meeting _

Finally the sand village became visible to the two man group heading there. After 3 long days their destination seemed a few steps away. 

"I guess in about in hour we'll be arriving. My sister should probably be locked in her room wallowing as usual" Kankuro said "I know you won't tell me what you'll do but, be gentle with her idiot"

"Yeah" Shikamaru lazily agreed

At last the duo arrived to the village. It really hadn't been that long since Shikamaru was there, since the last battle was recent but it somehow seemed quite different. Maybe it's the peace that the town exhales, the feeling of the people living their lives fearless. But the atmosphere seemed denser.

A while passed following Kankuro until they finally stopped in front of the sibling's house. Shikamaru had never been here. It was a huge house but what's to expect from the family of the village's Kazekage, it seems like it was damaged in the battle though, since many parts of it seemed to have been completely reconstructed.

Kankuro quickly opened the door and made a remark to himself about how good it was to be back. Shikamaru had felt calm during the trip, but the moment he crossed that door his heartbeats seemed to have doubled in speed.

"Go upstairs. First door to the left" Kankuro said closing the door behind them

Shikamaru nodded slightly and headed for the stair. His nervousness grew even bigger then. He couldn't understand why though, he replayed all the possible scenarios in his mind over and over again. But after all women sometimes seem to break the rules of sense and that was probably the reason.

Shikamaru stood a few seconds in front of the door of Temari's room, hesitating. Finally on a moment of brief braveness he opened wide on a quick move. What he found in that room was a Temari far from the one he remembered. Her hair was undone, her bed was too, and the whole room seemed like a mess altogether. She was lying in her bed facing down, and even though the door made noise when it opened she didn't notice (or care).

"Umm" the sound of a familiar voice made Temari raise her head. When she realized it was Shikamaru she stood up

"Shikama-" Shikamaru quickly approached her and sealed her lips with his index finger

"Shhh. You don't need to say anything" Temari seemed a bit confused by this action "I just want you to know I understand how you feel"

Moving his hand away Temari grunted "What are you talking about idiot? What are you doing here" Shikamaru fell into complete confusion

"Umm I don't think this is how it's supposed to go" he whispered to himself. Temari's face was nowhere near a desperate lover but more like an annoyed girl in that time of the month.

"Ahh mission" was the first thing he could think of since Shikamaru definitely knew something wasn't going as planned.

"What do you mean you know how I feel? How could you!" The girl yelled

"Uhhh ah I mean I understand what depression is and I know it's hard and..." Shikamaru's mind seemed foggy and unfocused. Not even danger of death would do that to him but this situation somehow made him more worried.

"I came here for the huh, mission and I ran into your brother and he told me you were acting strange so I figured I come visit you" A quick excuse Temari seemed to have bought.

"Since when do you care…" she said moving towards her bed again

"Aww come on, what kind of answer is that to a nice gesture like this" he muttered sarcastically, but Temari didn't answer.

"So listen, why don't you tell me what's wrong?" he said having the feeling she wouldn't

"You… could never understand…" she said on s weak slow voice "besides it's none of your business!"

A small silence passed, while Shikamaru tried to figure out a way to make her talk.

"If you just let it out you will feel better. Trust me. Whatever you say to me here will never leave this room, just let out some steam" he finally said

Shikamaru's voice tone was serious and comforting, some of this made Temari feel somehow secure.

"I don't know if I can trust…"

"You know I can be trusted. I'm not stupid enough too tell anyone what you would tell me. I'd be dead and that'd be troublesome"

A small smirk lightened up Temari's face.

"So tell me, what's the reason for all this?" Shikamaru felt brave enough to ask again

"The reason…" she started to say

"Yeah?" Shikamaru said on suspense

"The reason is… I lost my fan!" she yelled

Shikamaru's eyes widened and gave the illusion of leaving their orbits.

"Y y you lost your fan? Is that why you are depressed?"

"Yes… my very first fan I lost it… after the battle I came back here and it was gone… I loved that fan so much"

"Damn Ino! I'm going to kill you!" he whispered after he got confirmation of the terrible mistake "I can't believe I came here thinking she was like this for me… seems so stupid when I think about it now… but it made –"

"What did you say?" she asked

"Ummm nothing" he replied nervously "Anyways… really? So much for a fan?

"It's not just any fan. It's a very precious gift given to me by my father" her face reflected true sadness "I didn't' even use it that much anymore since it was a little torn and old from all my fights but still… it had a special sentimental value"

Shikamaru though for a while and figured out that since he was here already it would've be a bad idea to try and help. After all everything he had planned had gone to the drain in an instant. And even tough they never really existed, the though of Temari having those kind of feelings for him changed the way he saw her.

"So where have you looked for it?" Shikamaru asked the blonde girl

All over the house, a little outside, but no luck… I have no hopes in finding it outside since I doubt it would grow feet and go outside. That's why I'm giving up hope… but I'm having a hard time…"

"Why aren't you telling anyone?"

"I feel most people would think it's stupid to be depressed over something like this…" she said "besides I'm trying to forget… I have to stop thinking about it…"

Shikamaru remembered the outside of the house. It seemed like it could've been under attack and the fan could have ended up outside somehow. Maybe if they looked more carefully into the surroundings they could have a shot at finding it.

"Let's go look for it" Shikamaru said surprising Temari for a second but soon returning to her passive mood.

"I told you it's no use… It's gone" she said throwing herself at the bed again

"So you say you love this fan so much but you give up hope?"

"Go away… I'm doing fine…" she said waving him off, slightly annoyed.

Shikamaru's gaze fixed at Temari's face even though she was looking away

"Fine" he said while he headed for the door, he seemed somehow angry.

After he left Temari was left confused about what he would do now.

"He's probably gone… he'll be returning to Konoha" she though "or could it be that he… is going to…" she stopped that last though "no… that would be really unlike him…"

But then again Shikamaru seemed unlike him since the moment he walked to that door. Different from the lazy ass she was used to. And what's this about caring and trying to cheer her up that's not him at all.

"Something's going on here" she concluded

"I'll go and look for Kankuro. Maybe he has something to say."

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**Well I know it was probably an unexpected turn if you read the first chapter of this fic, but hopefully it was executed properly. I have more than half of the final chapter done already so I expect to update in less than a week this time. See ya.**


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